Screening committee formed for Scituate administrator search

SCITUATE – Selectmen Maura Curran and Tony Vegnani will be part of the screening committee that reviews applications for the town administrator job.

The third member of the committee will be Charles Cristello, who was town administrator in Hingham and town manager in Middleboro before he retired. Curran said Cristello, who has worked closely with Scituate in the past, volunteered to serve on the screening committee at no charge.

Selectmen said having a screening committee is a way to preserve applicants’ confidentiality. The committee will review the applications and decide which candidates should be invited in to be interviewed by the committee.

The committee-selected finalists will be interviewed by the selectmen during a public meeting.

“People who are looking for a job don’t necessarily want their names out there unless they are a finalist,” Vegnani said, adding that he hopes having a screening will help maximize the number of applicants.

Curran said nine applications have been received.

“I think it’s a good idea to try to get the applicant pool as big as we can,” she said.

Town Administrator Patricia Vinchesi announced her resignation last month, effective in the fall. Vinchesi, who became administrator in 2009, said she though it was time to pursue new challenges.